Shockingin one excert from the video a pig is seen bleeding to death on the abattoir floor

Piotr Andrzej Wasiuta, 30 Convicted of Animal Cruelty charges and was sentenced to a total of 6 weeks in Jail.

Kelly Smith, 40 Convicted of Animal Cruelty charges and was sentenced to a total of 4 weeks in Jail.

In the distressing video, Wasiuta can be seen pushing a lit cigarette onto the forehead and snout of three different pigs and forcing hot ash into one of the animals’ faces as it squirms to get away.

His actions earned him a six-week jail sentence.

In another clip, Smith, an experienced slaughterman of 14 years, is seen beating the animals with the edge of a ‘slapper’ used to move the pigs around the pens before slaughter.

He is later filmed hitting one pig 30 times in a minute – forcing the animal to sit down and pant heavily during the tirade of blows.

The 40-year-old father-of-three was jailed for four weeks.

Prosecutor Duncan Penny explained to the court how the footage was obtained by a contractor at the slaughterhouse who had ties to Animal Aid.

The filmed abuse took place in March and April 2011.

Duncan Penny Describing abuse carried out by Smith, he said: ‘These acts were pointless, served no purpose and demonstrated to his colleagues his contempt for the animals he was dealing with”

Piotr Wasiuta is seen stubbing out a cigarette on a pig's forehead. The Animal Abuse of the 'Pigs' earned Wasiuta a Six Week Jail Sentence

Caught- Kelly Smith was Filmed Beating One Pig a Horrifying 30 times in 62 Seconds.

Jeremy Sirrell, defending Smith, said the beatings happened when he was under ‘extreme pressure’ at work.

‘They were expected to slaughter 1500 animals, or units as the company would call it,’ he said.

‘It is a matter of some irony, that this extreme pressure bore out of more animals being taken from another slaughter house in proximity having been closed down as a result, quite rightly, of activity by Animal Aid.’

Sundeep Pahkhania, defending Wasiuta, said he had been working in the slaughter house for under two months, and the abuse was part of a wider culture and couldn’t explain he behaviour.

‘In the CCTV, you can see another operative walking by, and he mentions nothing,’ he said.

Animal Abuse: Piotr Andrzej Wasiuta will Spend Six Weeks Behind Bars After Admitting Stubbing Cigarettes Out in a Number of Pigs in His Care.

‘I suggest there was an established culture of this kind of behaviour.

‘He walks into it as very much a newbie.

‘He realises now it was unacceptable, unlawful and is disgusted with himself.’

As he sentenced them both, Magistrate John Newgas told Wasiuta and Smith: ‘You have both seen the pictures of what took place.

‘They show clear animal cruelty no doubt about it.

‘You should have known what you were doing was wrong, and must have known it was wrong.’

Both men have since been sacked from their jobs at the slaughterhouse.

Stress: Kelly Smith claimed he was under intense pressure when he carried out the abuse.

Animal Aid’s Head of Campaigns, Kate Fowler said the organisation was pleased with the result of the case – but urged the government to investigate two further slaughterhouses, claiming animals abuse is widespread across the industry.

She said: ‘We are satisfied that Wasiuta and Smith have now been brought to justice.

‘Their acts of cruelty were inexcusable and caused untold suffering to animals who were already scared and vulnerable.

‘However, many other slaughterhouse workers, who also caused serious and deliberate suffering to animals, have escaped justice because this government refused to act.

‘We are now calling on the Food Standards Agency to look again at two other cases to see whether charges may be brought under the Animal Welfare Act.

‘Our detailed investigations have found illegality in eight of the nine slaughterhouses we visited, despite government-appointed vets being present in all of them.

‘It does not catch those who abuse animals. But this case proves that properly placed and independently-monitored cameras do work, and we renew our call for Defra to make CCTV mandatory to catch those who abuse animals and to act as a disincentive to those who might consider it.’

Animal Aid secretly installed four cameras inside ElmkirkCheale Meats Ltd, an Essex slaughterhouse that claims to uphold high standards of animal welfare. The video shows pigs hit in the face with bats, incorrectly stunned and dragged by their ears to slaughter.

The campaign group claims the footage shows widespread breaches of animal welfare law and is demanding the Government takes legal action.
But the Department for the Department Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) has announced it will not prosecute Cheale Meats, in Brentwood, because campaigners trespassed to obtain the footage.

One part of the video shows a man punching a pig in the face. (Picture from Video)

Defra lawyers cited two previous cases of animal cruelty which collapsed after similar footage was ruled inadmissible in court. Sky News has found examples of successful court cases which relied on footage obtained by trespassing campaign groups or activists filming undercover.

In 1998, Steve Gills was convicted of beating elephants with an iron bar after he was secretly filmed at Mary Chipperfield‘s Circus.

In 2006, workers at a Bernard Matthews farm in Norfolk were convicted of cruelty after they were caught-on-camera hitting turkeys with metal poles.

But DEFRA said the circumstances surrounding every legal case are different, including how the evidence was obtained, the availability of other evidence, whether there has been an admission of guilt and whether the evidence is challenged.

A DEFRA spokesperson was unavailable for interview but they issued the following statement: “Defra takes the issue of animal welfare very seriously. Where video evidence has been obtained unlawfully through trespass, there is very little prospect of securing a conviction.

“So far as Cheale Meats is concerned, The Food Standards Agency has not referred the case to Defra’s lawyers for a decision on whether a prosecution should be brought.” Given the source of this material, Elmkirk would not accept that all or any of the activities shown on this video relate to their premises.
Elmkirk’s lawyer

The RSPCA says a solution is for independently monitored CCTV to be installed in abattoirs. RSPCA prosecutor, Sally Case, said: “Not only would CCTV act as a deterrent, it would also provide proper, admissible evidence of any offending.”

It is a move that has the backing of UK supermarkets including Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Marks & Spencer, Waitrose and the Co-op. Sainsbury’s said many of its meat suppliers had already installed CCTV cameras and expected all their abattoirs to be monitored by the end of 2011.

Jamie Foster, solicitor for Elmkirk, said the footage had been obtained unlawfully and his client has had CCTV installed for ten years. “Given the source of this material, Elmkirk would not accept that all or any of the activities shown on this video relate to their premises. “A complaint has been made to Essex Police by our clients in relation to any unlawful entry into our client’s premises by an employee of Animal Aid. The outcome of that complaint is awaited.”

The Food Standards Agency says it has revoked the licence of one slaughterman in the footage and increased the level of monitoring at the plant.

Here a worker uses a cigarette to burn a pig’s face. (Picture from Video)

The RSPB also claims to have secured more than twenty prosecutions after hiding cameras on private land to catch gamekeepers persecuting birds-of-prey.
Kate Fowler, Animal Aid’s Head of Campaigns, said similar cases covertly filmed by the group were dropped after there was a change of government.
“DEFRA were bringing case after case and one even got to court. Then literally within four weeks of the new Government coming in, all these cases were dropped.”

Warning: The link below contains distressing images: The video shows pigs hit in the face with bats, incorrectly stunned and dragged by their ears to slaughter.